Snowden Gets Papers; Castro Could Face Victim Today; Christie & Paul: Not Best Bud Yet; Sea World in Hot Water; Snowden Has Left the Airport; White House Reacts to Snowedn's Temporary Asylum

Aired August 1, 2013 - 08:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to hopefully a live report on that coming up. Bring you all the latest developing right now.

Also, we're following a possible olive branch between Senator Rand Paul and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. The two engaged in a pretty fierce war of words recently. Well, now, Paul says it's time to kind of kiss and make up. But it seems Chris Christie is not so sure. We'll have more on that.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: And we're very pleased to have legendary journalist Dan Rather joining us live today. We'll speak to him about a plethora of things, including CNN's new documentary about the Nixon administration. A great conversation you don't want to miss.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Let's get back to this breaking news. I want to go to Phil Black right now. He is in Moscow.

Phil, you with us.

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chris, I'm here, yes.

CUOMO: We're hearing the reports of what attorney has told people about getting temporary asylum for Snowden granted by the Russian government. What do we know?

BLACK: Yes, Chris, this is a big development. We just have spoken to Anatoly Kucherena, who has been the Russian lawyer assisting Edward Snowden with his application for temporary asylum in this country. It is confirmed that Edward Snowden has received an approval, that he has received a positive response to that application for temporary asylum and he has left the airport.

Now, what this means, it's not just permission to leave the airport, while the asylum application is still pending. He has received full approval to stay in this country with the full rights of the Russian citizen for up to one year. His lawyer says he's already left the airport, we don't know where he's going. His lawyer says that they are not divulging that detail yet for security reasons, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Phil, appreciate it very much in the latest. Let us know if you find out anything else. Of course, the glitch here, he doesn't have his passport.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. He shouldn't be able to fly. That's exactly what that means.

Let's get straight to what the U.S. is going to say about this. The U.S., of course, is not happy about this to say the least.

Barbara Starr is watching what the Obama administration may do next.

It's developing right now, Barbara. But are you getting reaction from the administration yet?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we know is the White House is going to be happy about this. There have already been whispers that if this was not resolved the way the Obama administration wanted it, which is they get Edward Snowden back, Obama might rethink his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled when Obama goes to the G-20 Summit in September.

There is a lot on the table in U.S.-Russian relationship right now and if Snowden is allowed to stay up in Russia for up to a year as Phil has reported, this is going to make it very dicey, the administration not so happy. So many issues on the table if they let Snowden stay -- the U.S. wants Russian cooperation in Syria. They want Russian cooperation in a number of matters in dealing with North Korea, with China, with security relationships around the world.

Putin has said that he doesn't want to see Snowden make statements that are anti-U.S. Putin has said, the Russian president, that he does not want to see the Russian-U.S. relationship hindered by the Snowden matter that the U.S./Russian relationship is more important than Edward Snowden.

So, now, what happened? If Putin has said that and, indeed, he is going to allow Snowden to stay in Russia for up to a year, where does it go from here? The White House will have to scramble and the State Department, the Pentagon, and figure out where they go from here in their relationship with Moscow -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: When the news came previously that there was talk that Snowden could be getting this document, that is that flurry of phone calls between the U.S. officials and their Russian counterparts.

STARR: You bet.

BOLDUAN: Of course, they don't want it to happen and they want it back. But the question remains, does this -- the fact that he has now left the airport, does that change the calculation for the administration? Do they have more options available to them than what they have been doing right now, which is simply a pressure campaign?

STARR: Well, I think the pressure campaign is likely to continue at this point. They can't, you know, go on the streets of Moscow and arrest him against his will and bring him back to Washington. That's not going to happen.

Pressure on Moscow and continuing pressure on any other countries, some of the countries that has been talked about that might take him, Venezuela, Ecuador, some of the other countries, Cuba, that he might have tried to go to. It looks like that will not happen now. That he will stay in Moscow for some period of time.

But, you know, you are going to see exactly, I think, what you talked about. This pressure campaign. The Attorney General Eric Holder, pressuring his law enforcement counterpart in Moscow, the Secretary of State John Kerry, pressuring the Russian foreign ministry. Behind the scenes for many weeks now, that is what has been going on and that is what you're going to continue to see. Even the U.S. intelligence community, the CIA pressuring its counterpart saying Snowden is not worth it, send him back, let's not harm the U.S./Russian relationship.

If the Russians don't do that, then President Obama himself has to really sit down and consider what he wants to do and what message he wants to send to Moscow now -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, Barbara. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon following this breaking news, that Edward Snowden has left the Moscow airport, lots more on this coming up. Thanks, Barbara.

CUOMO: Granted temporary asylum in Russia for a year. He can't fly, but stay there for up to a year.

Certainly, the answer to Barbara's question is apparent. The Russian authorities have made their move and now Snowden is in a much better position. And the United States is going to have a harder time if they want to bring him to justice, with him being -- granted full rights of a citizen.

All right. So, we're going to go to that story to another one that we're following back here at home -- a big day in the Ariel Castro case. Today, less than an hour from now, the sentencing hearing begins. The testimony expected to be chilling and dramatic.

Not only will we hear Ariel Castro talking about the crimes that shocked the nation, we could also hear one of his victims speak, as well.

Pamela Brown is in Cleveland with the story this morning.

Good morning, Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, too, Chris.

According to sources I spoke with, Michelle Knight is expected to make an impact statement today during the sentencing. Of course, Michelle Knight endured the worst abuse over the past 10 years, according to court documents, and she is expected to face her captor in court today. Of course, she could change her mind between now and then, but that is the expectation.

Prosecutors have also released presentencing documents and it details how Castro kept his victims in a sustained state of fear, how he terrorized them, and how the women were able to keep some normalcy through the use of their diaries.

According to court documents, he let the three women keep a diary during captivity. They described the abuse and dreams of someday escaping and being reunited with family.

ARIEL CASTRO, ON TRIAL FOR KIDNAPPING, RAPE AND MURDER: My addiction to pornography and sexual problem has taken a toll on my mind.

BROWN: Castro also admitted to having the girls chained by their ankles with only one meal a day, showering infrequently while he had sexually assaulted them. He also said he had other victims and that some of them made it home but that others have not.

In a plea deal that took the death penalty off the table, Castro pleaded guilty to more than 900 counts, including kidnapping, rape and murder for terminating Michelle Knight's multiple pregnancies.

MICHELLE KNIGHT, HELD CAPTIVE FOR OVER 10 YEARS: I may have been through hell and back, but I am strong enough to walk through hell with a smile on my face.

BROWN: Sources say Knight will likely make an impact statement in court, face to face with her captor for the first time since their dramatic rescue in nearly three months ago.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Sometimes the sentencing process is a form of catharsis for the victim of the crime.

BROWN: Castro too will finally share his side. His attorney says he could apologize to his victims.

Michelle Knight thanking the Cleveland Police Department with this handwritten note saying, "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, she became a butterfly."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: We want to take a look here.

This is a picture of a house model of Ariel Castro's house that was just wheeled in. Experts at Quantico created this and government authorities are going to be using this house model to show the judge what happened inside every single room in the house to make their case.

Now, we have learned from authorities that they've gone to great lengths to make this a tasteful sentencing. They're only to be presenting necessary evidence. They don't want to further victimize the women, but, still, we're going to see some physical evidence. We're going to see photos and it could get pretty ugly inside.

This starts at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time and from there we'll hear from Castro. And, as I said earlier, we're expecting to hear from Michelle Knight and several witnesses, as well, will be testifying -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Pamela, that is going to be something to watch.

We know you are all very interested. So, please stay with CNN for live coverage of Castro sentencing beginning, in less than an hour, as Pamela, 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

Clearly, a lot of news developing at this very hour. So, let's get straight to Michaela for the latest headlines.

PEREIRA: All right. Good morning to you. Good morning to you at home.

Fear of more violence in Egypt today. Egypt's military-backed government has told security forces to end a pair of Cairo-sit-ins being staged by supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsy. In a televised statement, Egypt's cabinet said sit-ins are disruptive and that they threaten Egypt's national security. Morsy supporters have vowed to remain in place until he is released from detention and put back in power.

Breaking overnight, an E. coli threat prompting a big beef recall. The National Beef Packing company based in Kansas recalling 50,000 pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated. So far, no one has gotten sick. The beef was sold to marketers, wholesalers and food distributors around the country, and has the establishment number 208A inside the USDA market inspection. It's the company's second recall already this summer.

He is one of baseball's biggest and highest paid stars, but A-Rod could be close to a very long suspension. According to ESPN, Alex Rodriguez and Major League Baseball are negotiating a deal that would avoid a permanent ban but would suspend him for the rest of this season and all of next season, too. Apparently, baseball officials showed Rodriguez volumes of evidence linking him to a company that sold performance enhancing drugs.

Armed and speeding, George Zimmerman running into trouble with the law in Texas. He was stopped for speeding last weekend near Dallas. The police officer didn't know who he was pulling over. Zimmerman did alert the officer that he had a gun in the glove compartment which is legal in Texas. The officer let Zimmerman off with just a warning to slowdown.

And I know you have been waiting for it in America. Dog TV about to be unleashed.

Now, to be clear, this is not just a channel for just for dog lovers. It's a channel just for our canine friends. It is available through DirecTV. It costs $4.99 a month.

Here's something both canines and their companions will be happy about, no commercials. And just happy dogs. Look at that. Come on. Dog TV.

BOLDUAN: Happy dogs, make happy owners.

PEREIRA: Surfing dogs.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: They used to tell us dogs didn't see three dimension -- two dimensions, remember that? That they can only see 3D. They couldn't watch TV.

PEREIRA: We've seen --

CUOMO: Now, you've got Dog TV.

PEREIRA: We saw video of I think it was a pug that enjoyed watching a movie. I think it was last year or something.

BOLDUAN: Well, how can you not like (INAUDIBLE).

CUOMO: I know, right? That's just universe. That's nothing to do with being adults, Mickey. Come on.

BOLDUAN: All right. So, some politics now. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul are not looking like they're having beers any time soon together. The two Republicans going at each other lately over government spending, as well government surveillance programs.

CNN's Jim Acosta is in Washington with more.

Jim, we hear about kind of the back and forth going on sometimes in private, but this has been pretty public.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kate. Safe to say, no beer summit on tap just yet. The Chris Christie/Rand Paul feud could be here to stay.

After calling the New Jersey governor the king of bacon right here on CNN, Paul tried to turn down the heat, even offering Christie a cold one. Put Christie is giving Paul the cold shoulder.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): An olive branch rejected.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: I'm running for re-election in New Jersey. I really don't have time for that at the moment.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: This is the kind of bacon talking about bacon.

ACOSTA: Kentucky Senator Rand Paul seemed to ask for forgiveness, suggesting a sort of ceasefire between the two outspoken Republicans.

PAUL: I think with Governor Christie, it's gotten a little too personal. So, we're ready to kiss and make up.

ACOSTA: But on a New Jersey radio program, Christie would have none of it.

CHRISTIE: I don't know why Senator Paul is so out of whack about this. At the end of the day, I never called him any names.

ACOSTA: It all began last week, in what could be the first shots fired in the battle for 2016 -- Christie slamming Paul for his criticism of government surveillance.

CHRISTIE: This strain of libertarianism that's going through both parties right now and making big headlines, I think, is a very dangerous thought. But I doubt he would because most Washington politicians only care about bringing home the bacon so that they could get re-elected.

ACOSTA: The back and forth continued right on to CNN's "THE SITUATION ROOM."

PAUL: Attacking me isn't helping the party. He's hurting the party.

ACOSTA: Beyond the jabs, some Republicans it's Paul's noninterventionist views on foreign policy that are setting the stage for a fight for the heart and soul of their party.

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: This is the anti-war, left-wing Democrats of the 1960s that nominated George McGovern and destroyed their party for almost 20 years.

ACOSTA: It doesn't look like a truce will come any time soon.

CHRISTIE: Really had nothing to do with Senator Paul, but Senator Paul wanted to make it about Senator Paul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Despite the criticism from some in his own party, a new Pew Research Center poll shows Rand Paul is one of the most popular figures in the GOP right now, even more so than Chris Christie and at a time when Republicans say they don't see a clear leader of the GOP.

But, safe to say, Kate, no beer summit, too. Not even a bromance. It's going to be frosty for a while.

BOLDUAN: There you go. You even got one more beer reference in. I love it.

ACOSTA: There you go.

BOLDUAN: All right, Jim, thanks so much.

Seriously, though, there is a lot of fight for the heart and soul of the Republican Party. What direction are they going to go and who's going to be the leading candidate come 2016.

CUOMO: All good questions.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

CUOMO: And we'll be right here to watch as they get answered.

We're going to take a break right now, though.

Coming up on NEW DAY: a dolphin stranded and not at the beach, at SeaWorld, on a slab of concrete. Disturbing video, and we'll show it to you and figure out what it means when we come back.

BOLDUAN: Plus, much more on the breaking news out of Russia this morning. NSA leaker, Edward Snowden, has left the Moscow airport where he's been staying now for over a month.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: SeaWorld is already taking heat for a video that showed a pilot whale stranded outside a tank in Orlando, Florida while visitors were screaming for help trying to get some help for the pilot whale. Well, it appears trouble has not stopped yet for SeaWorld. New video has surfaced of what appears to be a bloody dolphin stranded on the concrete after jumping out of its enclosure at the SeaWorld in San Antonio, Texas.

CNNs Nischelle Turner is live outside of SeaWorld in Orlando. So, what are you hearing this morning, Nischelle?

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, according to the international President of Theme Park Services which is a consulting firm to the theme park industry, SeaWorld ranks number three in top attractions in the United States. But, this is now the second video that we've seen surface in the past week, which paints a not so pretty picture of the park.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER (voice-over): The video is unsettling. A SeaWorld dolphin lying on the ground flailing outside its tank. This footage newly released by the people for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. They say the dolphin was bloodied and flailed there unhelped for minutes. It's the latest bomb in PETA's fight against SeaWorld's captivity of marine animals.

But a spokesperson for the theme park said this video is misleading and was shot more than a year ago. They say, quote, "The dolphin involved is healthy and doing fine today. Our zoo logical staff moved quickly to assist the dolphin. She was examined by our staff veterinarian and she was back in the water in less than 30 minutes."

The video is just the latest in a rising wave of bad publicity that first hit the theme park last month with the release of the documentary "Blackfish."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need a response for a dead person at SeaWorld. A whale has eaten one of the trainers.

TURNER: And then another blow last week.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The dolphin! He's stuck!

TURNER: With a viral video showing a pilot whale stranded as disturbed spectators look on. Witnesses say the whale floundered helplessly for nearly30 minutes. SeaWorld says these whales come out on the ledge all the time and the animal was never in danger. Attorneys for PETA tell CNN, quote, "We're starting to see more and more people coming forward with complaints and videos like the two we've seen this week." But SeaWorld says these images are inaccurate and the animals in them were unharmed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER (on-camera): Now, even though SeaWorld says the video was shot more than a year ago, PETA said it just received the video and released it immediately. Now, when we spoke to the president of the International Theme Park Services he also said he believes with all of these videos being released, it still will only do minimal damage to SeaWorld.

He also believes the documentaries like "Blackfish," he says, will simply come and go and we should say that "Blackfish" is coming to CNN. CNN Films has purchased the television rights to the documentary, and it will air on our network October 24th. Kate, back to you.

BOLDUAN: All right. Nischelle, thanks so much for the update.

All right. We're going to take a break now. When we come back on NEW DAY, we are following breaking news. NSA leaker, Edward Snowden, has been granted temporary asylum in Russia for up to one year. Full rights of a citizen. What does that mean about the United States? One thing is for sure, a huge slap in the face. We'll try and figure out where he's headed next and tell you about it.

BOLDUAN: Plus, legendary newsman, Dan Rather, is here to join us this morning. We're going to talk to him about a lot, including this latest rapidly developing story out of Russia.

Breaking news this morning, want to get back to it. Moments ago, NSA leaker, Edward Snowden, left the Moscow airport where he has been holed up and granted political asylum in Russia. We're going to take a look at the very serious implications of this incredible decision coming up.

CUOMO: Big slap in the face to the U.S. Now, he's got a whole year to be there. Certainly limits the options of this country.

And, who better to talk about it than this man? Legendary journalist, Dan Rather. So much experience and insight into these things. We're going to talk to him about the news today and also about the documentary coming out about Richard Nixon. So, that will be great.

Before we get to Dan Rather, though, as much as I'd like to right now, there's so much news that we have to talk about --

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: -- the five things.

CUOMO: The five things, please.

PEREIRA: All right. Here we go. Five things you need to know for your NEW DAY. Number one, in less than 30 minutes, the sentencing hearing for Ariel Castro, the man who kept three women captive in his Cleveland home, will begin. One of the women he imprisoned, Michelle Knight, is expected to give an impact statement. It said to be very powerful.

In Cairo, the army is warning that is going to put a stop to massive sit-ins from supporters of ousted president, Mohamed Morsy.

ESPN reporting Alex Rodriguez negotiating a deal with Major League Baseball that would include a lengthy suspension but avoids a lifetime ban.

Today, former CIA chief, David Petraeus, begins his year-long tenure as a visiting professor of public policy at the city university of New York.

Same-sex marriage at number five now legal in Minnesota and Rhode Island. Couples have been up all night tying the knot. This becomes the 12th and 13th states to legalize same-sex marriage.

You know, we always update those five things to know. So, be sure to visit NEWDAY.CNN.com for the very latest.

All right. Back to our breaking news.

CUOMO: Let's get on this Edward Snowden story. Russian lawyer, his lawyer, says the NSA leaker has left the Moscow airport where he's been stranded for more than a month. Let's bring in CNN's Phil Black live in Moscow. What's the latest, Phil?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Chris. After more than five weeks stranded in that transit zone, Edward Snowden, we are told, has now walked free and actually crossed the immigration zone and entered Russia officially. This is according to the lawyer that has been helping him with his asylum application here and the significance is in the detail.

This is not just short-term permission to enter the country while his asylum application is being considered. This is official approval for that asylum application which will give him the right to stay in Russia for up to one year with all the same rights and freedoms of any Russian citizen, the freedom to move around, the freedom to travel if he so desires.

His lawyer tells us he left the airport but will not disclose precisely where he is and he says that is for security reasons. Now, what this means from the Russian government, we're yet to know. Russia has tried to maintain a very difficult balance to position throughout this refusing to send Snowden back, but at the same time, insisting that it does not want to upset the United States.

We know that talks have been taking place between Russia and the United States. The president's spokesman says that has been taken place at the level of the FBI and Russia's federal security service. What that means in the context to that, we should learn very soon. Does that mean those talks have broken down, or possibly, is this part of incredibly some sort of negotiated compromise.

We begin to get a sense of that once we get official statements from the Russian and U.S. administrations. Back to you, Chris and Kate.

CUOMO: All right. Phil, we already know this. Thank you for the reporting. They didn't have to do this and they did. And now, that Edward Snowden has rights fully accorded as the Russian citizen. It limits what the Russians can do in terms of transferring him to another country.

BOLDUAN: Lots to talk about on this story this morning. So, the big question now, what does this decision mean for the United States, obviously, and how is the White House reacting? Let's get straight to Dan Lothian at the White House for the latest. It's happening now, Dan. So, what is the White House reacting this morning?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And you know, this is clearly not what the White House had hoped for. There had been pressure, as Phil was just talking about, by U.S. officials on the Russians to have Snowden expel back to this country in order to face the charges against him for the release of those classified documents.

No official word yet from the White House have reached out to a couple of administration officials. So, still waiting to hear whether this was part of some negotiated deal or whether or not the Russians, indeed, are going against what the U.S. wants. There's still a lot of outstanding questions here, particularly, how will this impact the already fragile relationship between the United States and Russia.

And will the president still be attending the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg in this upcoming September? White House spokesman, Jay Carney, has always said that it was the president's intention to attend the summit. There have been calls by lawmakers here in the United States to have a change of venue of the G-20.

So, we'll wait to find out if, in fact, the president knew about this move and how this will be impacting any future decisions about the United States. The president going to the G-20 summit in September.